The Reporter, January 2014

The Reporter is a publication produced by Western Carolina University featuring news, events, and campus community updates for faculty and staff. The publication began in August of 1970 and continues digitally today. Click on the link in the “Related Materials” field to access recent issues.SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home January 30, 2014 Email This Post Print This Post Share | Performing in “A Doll’s House” staging at Western Carolina University Feb. 12-16 will be, seated from left, Amerie Rose Caitlyn as Natalie Helms and Ellen Dyar as Nora Helms, and, standing from left, Phil Culton as Dr. Murray and Drew Starkey as David Helms. TOP STORIES 1960s version of ‘A Doll’s House’ to stage Feb. 12-16 New York City in 1962 – a time when feminism was beginning to put the brakes on patriarchy – will be the setting of the version of “A Doll’s House” to stage at Western Carolina University from Wednesday through Sunday, Feb. 12-16. Part of WCU’s 2013-14 Stage and Screen Mainstage Season, the show will be performed in Hoey Auditorium nightly at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12-15 and at 3 p.m. Feb. 16. Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 “A Doll’s House,” one of the world’s most performed plays, reveals the love, deceptions – and self-deceptions – that lead a woman with few alternatives to re-evaluate her identity as a wife and mother. The character Nora, who has been objectied, centers her life on pleasing her husband but struggles with not knowing who she is as an individual. Meanwhile, her friend, a self-su cient pragmatist who has a career, yearns for the companionship of a romantic relationship. Ibsen based the play on a good friend who had forged a check to pay back a loan she took out to save her husband, who was ill. When caught, her husband demanded a divorce. She was committed to an insane asylum, and, a few years later, returned to the marriage. Having declined to help his friend, Ibsen felt guilty and wanted to explore in the play what it would take for a woman to walk away from her husband and children, and stand on her own, said Brenda Lilly, assistant professor of stage and screen and the WCU show’s director. Intrigued by the story’s feminist threads, Lilly adapted the script to set the play in a more contemporary time that coincided with a resurgence of feminism. “The play t the early 1960s – a time when women commonly wore Merry Widows, a modern, sexier type of corset that created a similar silhouette to the 1800s female image,” said Lilly, an experienced actor, screenwriter, playwright and producer. “High heels added a new dimension of fashion torture. It also was a time when an unmarried woman was an unusual thing and when women were not allowed to get loans without their husband’s permission.” Lilly said she enjoyed adapting the play and exploring the story in a new context, as well as making the play a bit sexier. “When this play was written and Nora slams the door at the end, it was the birth of modern drama,” said Lilly. “I hope the door slam will still have that kind of impact.” Lilly has worked as a writer on series including “Big,” “Shades of L.A.,” “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose,” “L.A. Law,” “Christy,” “Walker: Texas Ranger,” “Xena: Warrior Princess,” “Bobby’s World,” “Second Noah,” “Fame L.A.” and “Honey I Shrunk the Kids.” She partnered with Hollis Rich to create and produce the critically acclaimed coming-of-age series “State of Grace,” which was set in 1960s North Carolina. The show is connected to WCU’s 2013-14 campuswide interdisciplinary learning theme, “1960s: Take It All In,” in which the campus community has been challenged to reflect on the legacy and lessons of the decade. Tickets to “A Doll’s House” are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and WCU faculty and sta, and $7 in advance and $10 the day of the show for students. To purchase tickets in advance, visit the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center box oce in person, online at bardoartscenter.wcu.edu or call 828-227-2479. CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: Beyond the Glass Matrix 5/29/2017 Water Portraits: Barbara Tyroler 6/9/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' 6/10/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2014 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home January 14, 2014 Email This Post Print This Post Share | Buzz Spector’s “Off the Shelf” installation featured large, sculptural installations of books and Polaroid works. NOTEWORTHY NEWS Artist, critic and writer to give public lecture Jan. 30 Acclaimed artist Buzz Spector will deliver a public lecture titled “Buzz Spector: Material Reading” at Western Carolina University at 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in Room 130 of the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center. Spector also is a critic and writer. His work has been published in journals including “Artforum” and “New Art Examiner.” In addition, he was the founding editor of “White Walls,” a magazine of writings by artists in Chicago. Spector’s studio work investigates connections between art, language and the book, and has included artists’ books, conceptual book works, and sculptural installations made from books. “His work considers the form, the materials and cultural context of the physical object known as a book,” said Matt Liddle, professor and director of the School of Art and Design. Spector’s work was included in the exhibition “Critology” at the WCU Fine Art Museum in 2013. He also is an accomplished teacher, winning the 2013 College Art Association Distinguished Teaching of Art Award. He currently serves as dean of the College and Graduate School of Art at Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. Spector’s visit to WCU is sponsored by the School of Art and Design and the College of Fine and Performing Arts. For more information, call 828-227-3594. CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2014 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home January 30, 2014 Email This Post Print This Post Share | NOTEWORTHY NEWS Athletics sponsor supports discounted faculty and staff tickets Western Carolina University faculty and staff members can purchase tickets for themselves and members of their immediate families to any of the last four home men’s basketball games for $5 each and to any of the Friday home baseball games for $1 each. The discounted tickets, which represent a savings of $5 per ticket for the basketball games and $4 per ticket for the baseball games, are offered this spring semester courtesy of the law firm of Earwood and Moore Attorneys at Law, which has offices in Sylva nad Cullowhee, a sponsor of Catamount athletics. Faculty and staff members will be asked to show their Cat Cards at the events. Basketball and baseball schedules are posted at www.catamountsports.com. For ticket information, call 800-34-GOWCU. CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2014 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home January 30, 2014 Email This Post Print This Post Share | NOTEWORTHY NEWS Awards nomination process underway Members of the WCU community are encouraged to nominate faculty members for an array of college and university awards online using the integrated faculty/staff award nomination process. The process enables members of the WCU community to nominate colleagues for awards at the college and university levels in one online location. The open nomination period for most awards runs through Tuesday, Feb. 4. To nominate a colleague, visit the “WCU Faculty/Staff Awards nomination survey” online (link no longer active). For more information, contact John Hawes, learning management system support specialist at Coulter Faculty Commons, at jhawes@wcu.edu or 828-227-2763. CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2014 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home January 22, 2014 Email This Post Print This Post Share | ACHIEVEMENTS Book to chronicle Cosner’s research A book by Charlotte Cosner, assistant professor of history, titled “The Golden Leaf: How Tobacco Shaped Cuba and the Atlantic World,” will be published this fall by Vanderbilt University Press. The book details Cosner’s research, which has garnered support from the Program for Cultural Cooperation between Spain’s Ministry of Culture and United States Universities, and a Ford Foundation Grant for Student Travel from the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University. In addition, she received the Lydia Cabrera Award for Cuban Historical Studies from the Conference on Latin American History. She has presented her work on tobacco at regional, national and international conferences, including events associated with the Latin American Studies Association and the Asociacion de Historia Economica del Caribe. CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: Beyond LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2014 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home January 13, 2014 Email This Post Print This Post Share | The WCU master plan proposes reinforcement of the existing academic core of campus and reconnecting that core to the historic hill area of WCU, as seen in this artist’s rendering of what the Central Plaza and Centennial Drive area could look like in the future. TOP STORIES Campus master plan endorsed by trustees A new campus master plan endorsed Friday (Dec. 6) by the Western Carolina University Board of Trustees is designed to closely link physical facilities of the university, including future construction and renovation, to goals of its recently approved strategic plan. The master plan is meant to provide “a exible framework for growth,” said Keith Storms of Hanbury, Evans, Wright and Vlattas, a rm specializing in campus design and planning. The plan is based on enrollment projections that anticipate more than 11,000 students studying on the campus in Cullowhee by the year 2023, and the need for approximately 486,000 gross square feet of additional interior space to accommodate the needs of those students. Currently, about 7,800 students out of WCU’s total enrollment of 10,107 live and study in Cullowhee. Approval of the plan, which was drafted with the guidance of a 16-member task force, comes after a 17-month process that included numerous public forums designed to collect input and feedback from university students, faculty and staff and from residents of surrounding communities. During that process, the task force and the master plan consultants presented numerous options for land use and future development. Feedback from the campus and community led to a preferred land use plan that focuses on reinforcement of the existing academic core of campus, reconnects that core to the historic hill area of WCU and seeks opportunities for strategic development around the new Health and Human Sciences Building on the university’s West Campus. In presenting the master plan to the board for its consideration, Chancellor David O. Belcher called it “a living document, one that is not set in stone but will be a guide to us as we go forward.” Highlights of the plan, which attempts to take advantage of natural synergies among academic programs without creating “academic silos,” include: * Construction of a new science building of approximately 130,000 square feet that would replace the existing Natural Sciences Building and create a “science quad” by incorporating renovations to the existing Stillwell Building. * Construction of a new building for the College of Business and additions to the existing Forsyth Building, which is home to most business programs. * Consolidation of programs in the College of Fine and Performing Arts to new and existing space near the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center. * Enhancing pedestrian connectivity across campus, especially between the academic center of campus and the historic area. The plan envisions a signature building located between the upper and lower areas of campus that would house existing programs in student engagement and related activities. * Additional revitalization of the historic hill area of campus, including improvements in transportation ow and new residence hall and dining space for 300 additional students. * Creation of a new main entrance to campus on N.C. Highway 107 that links the traditional campus with the newer West Campus, with a new visitor center and enhanced public parking for visitors attending ne arts, athletics and entertainment events at the Bardo Arts Center, Ramsey Regional Activity Center and athletics fields. * Phased development of two buildings for private/public partnerships adjacent to the Health and Human Sciences Building on the West Campus while reserving steeply sloped land as an environmental preserve. * Enhancing views of and recreational opportunities along Cullowhee Creek as it ows through campus by removing invasive vegetation, and using existing green space in the flood plain of the creek for recreation and athletics fields. * Improvements to athletics facilities including a new eld house, indoor practice facility and enhanced stands and a new press box on the west side of E.J. Whitmire Stadium. * A possible mixed-use facility featuring dining and retail space on the ground floor and residential space on upper levels. CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: Beyond the Glass Matrix 5/29/2017 Water Portraits: Barbara Tyroler 6/9/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' 6/10/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT During an afternoon of open discussions and committee meetings on Thursday (Dec. 5) prior to the board meeting, some members of the board asked what impact a Nov. 21 re that damaged three businesses in the commercial strip in the center of campus might have on projects proposed in the master plan. University ocials say they are unable to speculate on the future of the site at this point. The university received a report late last week from the State Construction Oce on the structural integrity of the building, and are awaiting a cost estimate for repair or replacement of the building from architects hired by the university, as required by the N.C. Department of Insurance. Additional information about WCU’s master planning process can be found at the website masterplanning.wcu.edu. Additional information and updates about the fire can be found at the website fire.wcu.edu. By Bill Studenc © 2014 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home January 22, 2014 Email This Post Print This Post Share | NOTEWORTHY NEWS Celebration for WCU’s 125th anniversary starts Thursday The festivities for Western Carolina University’s yearlong 125th anniversary celebration get underway Thursday, Jan. 23, in the Grandroom of A.K. Hinds University Center on the WCU campus. Scheduled from 12:25 to 2:25 p.m., the kickoff event will include a fashion show of apparel adorned with WCU’s 125th logo, and refreshments, prizes, games, giveaways, displays and birthday cake. Birthday cupcakes also will be available that day for students, faculty and staff at the university’s instructional site at Biltmore Park Town Square. That night, the men’s basketball team will take on Davidson in a Southern Conference game at Ramsey Regional Activity Center, with special activities and promotions planned as part of the evening. For more information, visit the recently launched website at celebrate125.wcu.edu. CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2014 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home January 13, 2014 Email This Post Print This Post Share | David Shapiro (fourth from right), WCU professor of communication sciences and disorders, meets on campus with allied health professionals from the Czech Republic (from left) Tomas Ostry, Martin Kejklicek, Pavel Florian, Ilona Kejklickova, Eva Prikrylova, Michael Kubes and Petr Stanicek. TOP STORIES Collaboration solidified between allied health professionals in the Czech Republic and WCU A team of seven allied health professionals from the Czech Republic who recently visited Western Carolina University said they were impressed with the faculty and students, the Health and Human Sciences Building, the techniques and equipment being used to deliver services for people of all ages with communication disorders at WCU’s Speech and Hearing Clinic, and the cordiality of all the people they encountered in Western North Carolina. The group represented LOGO, a private, interdisciplinary clinic in the city of Brno that delivers traditional and nontraditional assessment and intervention across allied health disciplines, and has collaborated for nearly 10 years with David Shapiro, WCU professor of communication sciences and disorders. Shapiro, who holds the university’s Robert Lee Madison Distinguished Professorship and is president of the International Fluency Association, has visited the clinic four times. In 2010 and as part of a course titled “International Perspectives on Communication Sciences and Disorders,” Shapiro took ve WCU graduate students to LOGO to work with people who stutter, learn about clinical techniques being used in Eastern Europe and deliver presentations at an international congress recognizing International Stuttering Awareness Day. While there, Shapiro was interviewed by “Psychology Today,” where he shared him impressions about LOGO and the collaboration between LOGO and WCU. In November, Shapiro’s colleagues from LOGO came to WCU for the first time to present about their work and their clinical facility, attend presentations, and observe clinical activities. In addition, they participated in campus activities including a jazz concert, a basketball game, and a tour of Cherokee art and history in WCU’s Mountain Heritage Center. Also, they enjoyed the community by hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains, being interviewed with translation on radio station WRGC and shopping in local stores and those on the Qualla Boundary, home of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Four of the Czech guests had never been to the United States. Petr Stanicek, a LOGO speech therapist and department head, described the experience at WCU of sharing diagnostic practices as benecial and inspiring, and Pavel Florian, another LOGO speech therapist, was impressed with the modern equipment and how it is being used at WCU in speech therapy and physical therapy. Florian said he was particularly impressed not only with the academic training, but with the practical experience that every graduate student gets as a part of WCU’s program in communication sciences and disorders before entering the workforce. Tomas Ostry, director of the nonprot sector of LOGO, said the experience raised his awareness of the universality of the professional commitment to serving others and to improving their quality of life. “It is through the path which is not measured by distance, but measured in time, energy and patience, that must be invested to help people, develop new treatments and methods, build new facilities, and become among the best in the eld,” said Ostry. Ilona Kejklickova, owner and executive director of LOGO, thanked Shapiro for organizing the visit and emphasized her commitment to the international collaboration between LOGO and WCU. “LOGO was happy to accept the invitation from Dr. Shapiro and WCU,” said Kejklickova. “This visit solidied our commitment to continue our international exchange, which helps all of us broaden our understanding of human communication and intervention.” Eva Prikrylova, project manager and psychologist at LOGO, concurred. “Thank you for having us observe the wonderful work with clients and meet the students and faculty,” said Prikrylova. “Thank you for your welcome and for your interest in our work. We really appreciate this sharing of information and knowledge.” Shapiro said he was again inspired during the visit by the degree to which the LOGO team is united in its commitment to service, willingness to share its facility with others from around the world, openness to learn from others, and desire to have fun while it works. He also said he continues to be moved by the magnitude of what Kejklickova has achieved since 1990, after the Velvet Revolution of 1989, which resulted in the collapse of the Communist Regim